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Vol 1, Issue 1 | 26 Aug, 2016

Op-Eds and Media Appearances

De Tocqueville foresaw the problem with conducting foreign affairs early: “A democracy can only with difficulty regulate the details of an important undertaking, persevere in a fixed design, work it out despite serious obstacles. It cannot combine measures with secrecy or await outcomes with patience.”

Brexit, NSG, the Emergency: three unrelated events combining over that last June weekend, in one imperative lesson: put your house in order. Brexit shows the great, sudden ways of change in the world, and their effects on us; Seoul/Tashkent underlines how tough it is to secure our international interests, especially in face of China’s power and purposes

Policy Papers, Policy Notes and Briefs

In this DPG Policy Note Vol. I, No. 1, Ambassador H.K. Singh, Director General, highlights the increasing mismatch between India's growing geo-political ambition and its continued diffidence towards trade and investment openness, including emerging mega regional trade pacts like RCEP, or even membership of APEC, whose programmes for trade and business facilitation are voluntary and non-binding.

The 25th Anniversary of India’s 1991 economic reforms marks an important milestone; the liberalisation era has brought about unprecedented growth and wider prosperity. However, the reform process remains a work in progress.

A lot has been written about India's energetic pursuit of NSG membership, which met with strong Chinese opposition at the Seoul plenary meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. In this DPG Policy Note Vol.1, Issue 2, Brig. Arun Sahgal (Retd.), Senior Fellow, analyses China's motivations in the context of the unfolding geo-strategic landscape in Asia. He argues that Beijing will suppress or deny India’s growing status, which threatens China's "revitalisation dream" of regional domination, by any means. Against this background, it becomes imperative that India's strategic and think tank community must develop a clear understanding of China’s unwavering opposition to India's rise as a global power and generate public awareness of this reality.

At their last bilateral summit held in New Delhi on December 12, 2015, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shinzo Abe had concluded a Joint Statement on India and Japan Vision 2025, establishing a multi-sectoral and action-oriented partnership with vast region-wide ramifications.

India's foreign and security policy is today increasingly defined by the pragmatic and multi-dimensional engagement of foreign powers to expand strategic room and influence. However, vestiges of old "non-aligned" mindsets still linger.

India's foreign and security policy is today increasingly defined by the pragmatic and multi-dimensional engagement of foreign powers to expand strategic room and influence. However, vestiges of old "non-aligned" mindsets still linger.

Since independence, the Indian Navy has been at the forefront of maritime diplomacy, first through what were called "goodwill visits" and since the dawn of the new millennium, through "overseas deployments" or OSDs.

For the second time in less than two years, the Indian government has liberalized FDI (foreign direct investment) policy. With the changes announced on June 20, India has become a more open economy for FDI.

In DPG Brief Vol.I, Issue 1, Backgrounder 1,Tanzoom Ahmed writes that PM Narendra Modi's recent visit to the United States has added renewed energy and enthusiasm to India-US relations. This relationship has forged the way for three areas of cooperation: civil nuclear, defense and maritime security.

In DPG Brief Vol.I, Issue 1, Backgrounder 2, Antara Ghosal observes that Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar’s participation at the latest edition of the Shangri-La Dialogue held on June 3-5, 2016, has been well-received as a welcome development, testifying to the activist foreign policy agenda of the Modi government and the seriousness of India’s “Act-East” policy.

The June 14th Kunming Special Foreign Ministerial meeting, marking the 25th anniversary of ASEAN-China relations, has created much controversy following retraction of a “strongly worded” ASEAN joint statement.

After the US presidential elections there is a possibility of a shift in US foreign policy. However, there is a fundamental change already taking place where the geo-political and geo-economic importance of Asia is rising in the American establishment because of increasing interconnectedness between the American economy and the economies of the Asian countries.